Retail outlets have employed a number of different techniques for displaying merchandise and promotional items to customers. Wall and floor cabinets are commonly used as permanent fixtures to display merchandise, and many of these have locking drawers or doors to prevent access to the items on display except by an employee with a key. In some instances, portable cases are used to display promotional items and products which are smaller in size such as watches, jewelry or the like. These portable cases typically rest on top of a base cabinet, or on a shelf.
A number of portable display cases have been proposed in the prior art, but each suffer from one or more deficiency. In one typical design, the display case is formed from a number of individual walls which are slid or otherwise secured together to form a transparent enclosure with a closed interior. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,524,977; 5,263,576 and 2,651,557. The problem with these designs is that most retailers do not have the storage area for cases which require a number of individual parts, or the staff and time to assemble such cases. It is important for the display case to be easily assembled, without special knowledge or tools, and to have a limited number of parts.
Another major issue for retailers is the problem of theft of the contents of a display case, or the entire case itself. As noted above, portable display cases intended for promotional items or other small products are most often positioned atop a base cabinet or on a wall-mounted shelf. It is desirable to secure the display case in position, without allowing access to its closed interior, but in a way which is aesthetically pleasing. The concept of mounting a display to a shelf or other support is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,998; 3,744,645; 1,948,049 and 1,645,470. With the exception of the '049 patent, each of these displays include a platform or pedestal which is secured to a support in combination with an enclosure or case mounted to the platform. This type of design is often aesthetically lacking, and the use of a separate platform adds an additional part which must be stored, and paid for, by the retailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,948,049 teaches an arrangement where two side panels of a display have spaced arms which straddle a shelf. A thumb screw extends from one of the arms into engagement with the shelf to mount the display in place. Each side panel of this design is a separate piece which must be mounted to the rest of the display, and the display itself does not have a closed interior which allows any item placed thereon to be stolen.